Wrap Up of the Final Day at the 2015 Volcom Pipe Pro!

PIPELINE, Oahu/Hawaii (Monday, February 2, 2015): JOHN JOHN FLORENCE has won his fourth Volcom Pipe Pro title in five years, defeating MASON HO (HAW), KELLY SLATER (USA), and SEBASTIAN ZIETZ (HAW) in highly technical, 6-to-8 foot Backdoor. Slater is the only surfer to have interrupted John’s streak, winning here last year. The Volcom Pipe Pro is a WSL QS3000 event and the first competitive appearance of all four finalists in the League’s 2015 season.

Florence, 22, had the 35-minute Final in the bag within the first seven minutes, posting wave scores of 9.2 and 8.43 for the highest heat score of the entire event — 17.63 out of 20. Florence and Slater, 42, had been the pair to beat here from the outset, pushing each other round for round and flip-flopping on highest wave and heat scores along the way.

A whipping 25mph side-offshore wind helped keep the Backdoor barrels and aerial opportunities open, but presented major challenges in the form of wave face chop.

Ho drew first blood in the final with a beautiful barrel for 8.6 points, but his dreams fell apart the minute Florence hit his stride. Florence seemed to read the conditions and rising swell lines with ease, tapping into his lifetime of local knowledge to leave his challengers chasing him. By the end of the heat, Slater found himself in a rare combination situation, needing two much higher scores than any he was carrying to catch Florence. Zietz met a similar end. Ho found one last tube, but fell short of the win with a 7.3.

“This-morning it was really fun, the wind was pretty clean and just really long, little barrels,” said Florence. “Then the wind picked up and started putting this chop in it and it made it really, really difficult out there. But it was so fun. It was just whoever was in the spot for the good double ups.

“Getting two scores in the beginning of a heat that’s 35 minutes long, you sit for so long… like, oh my God, I’ve got 20 minutes here to just think about it (laughs)!

“Going into the this year it’s going to be a fun one. I come in with a lot of confidence out of last year, knowing I can make the heats and do really good. I’m just going to go into this year thinking the same kind of thing and hopefully it comes down to the end of the year out here at Pipe. It would be awesome. That’s my dream come true – to win a world title out here at Pipe. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Slater posted the only perfect 10 of the event in this-morning’s Quarter Final for a super long, deep and weaving barrel ride. It earned him the “Electric Perfect 10″ Award of the competition. He also won the inaugural Todd Chesser Hard Charger Sportsmanship Award, in honor of a much-loved North Shore big wave rider who passed away charging big waves on Feb. 13, 1997.

“Todd was one of my great friends, we were all devastated by his passing,” said Slater. “What Todd meant to us was he exemplified a guy who was totally fit and driven to charge and go surf big waves all the time. He pushed all of us. Todd’s pretty much a part of our every day life still. We have a get together every Thanksgiving for him, there’s probably not a week that goes by that we somehow don’t have a conversation about Todd and it’s been 18 years since he passed away.”

As members of the World Surf League’s (WSL) elite Top 34, Florence, Slater and Zietz now turn their attention to the start of the 2015 Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour that gets underway in Australia on February 28. The World Title will be decided in December back here at the Pipe Masters.

Following the success of the joint Volcom Snow Team House/Marketing Facility in, which we’ve held since the winter of 2004, we figured that doing something particularly for our beloved French snow accounts was long overdue. It turns out not everyone can be bought with Beers & Schnitzels!
Besides, the French Alps are, after all, home of arguably THE most impressive chunks of rocks in all of Europe.
Many French location options were initially considered (Val D’isere, Portes Du Soleil, La Grave, etc) but in the end all roads and arrows pointed at Chamonix. There’s just no escaping this mythical village, or small town if you like, equally adored as it is feared and even dreaded.
Given our commitment to making outerwear as technically advanced and rider-appealing as any mountain gear manufacturer out there, then field testing it in the harshest conditions available, (Be it on top of Aiguille du Midi mid-Blizzard or inside Elevation Bar during Scando happy hour)
Chamonix was chosen faster than CGT can set up a road block.
Voila! Deal sealed
We took over a ravishing Chalet for a 3-week period, then sent out invites to our dearest accounts to come join us in celebration of life, aka snowboarding.
What better place to get better acquainted with Volcom’s proprietary Zip Tech, Face Tech and TDS technologies than while riding and taking in the stunning, unrivalled high-alpine beauty of the Chamonix valley?
A typical day started with a massive breakfast prepared by one of our marketing clowns, then assessing conditions, picking the right outerwear for the conditions and finally deciding, in close conjunction with one our guides, which mountain to grace with our presence.
Snow Team riders Arthur Longo, Vale Ducourtil, Oli Gittler and many others all came by for various periods of time, entertaining and pushing our guests beyond their abilities, while showing them what’s possible on a snowboard when not spending your life in an office. Then, in hot pursuit close behind or slightly ahead (All depending on the best angle) was our long-time photographer extraordinaire Vernon Deck, immortalizing perhaps some of their finest riding ever captured on film and video as an added bonus for our dear visitors.
Come 4 pm it was Beer o’clock, either directly in our on-site wheels, the Volcom Snow motor home, or where ever the nearest beer on tap was to be found. Upon returning to our chalet, showering & snacking, it was time for massages, movies, story talk or simply chilling..
Then at nite off we went to one of our many mouth-watering restaurants of choice, before returning back home to the good ole Chamschack chalet to sleep, dream of what tomorrow brings and repeat.
On the rare occasion that someone wasn’t falling over by now but surprisingly still had juice in them for more, young stallion Vince was always standby, frothing to undo the top button of his shirt and let them chest hairs hit the highly gender-disparity challenged Chamonix nightlife.
Would you expecting anything else? Your friends at Volcom Snow always keeps an eye open for every scenario. But that is a story all of its own.
Merci Beaucoup to everyone who came to visit us, our guides, Man & Wolf Beer, Chamonix itself, Nitro and Korua for boards
WELCOME TO THE VOLCOM CHAM SHACK HOUSE 2018
Happy camper
Snow legend Polo Tornado from Laboshop with style
Sure beats a day at the office
Valé Ducourtil, Polo Tornado, and Mr Caule spliting
Tailgrab with the freak Mat Siboni L'1prévue shop
The reward of a good split session
It's important to celebrate when you have a good day
Vallée Blanch mission with Valé and the group
Valérian digs Vanilla Ice
Le Brevent side view
Our guide Paul at Le Tour
David was always the first to sertve up cold ones. Here with the Black Cats boys !

We had a blast this weekend at the Burger Invasion festival with back to back concerts in Barcelona and Madrid!
Burger Records, the Californian music label set up an eclectic line up that pumped the audience crescendo.
The shows started with the delicacy of Younghusband, following with Cotillon, then some psychedelic sounds from The Molochs. At the time Wand took over the stage with their trippy progressive sounds, spirits were already high, but when The Garden started their show, it completely exploded (go check their stage act when you’ve got the chance). The show ended with The Dwarves, turning the front rows into a mosh pit, with some “punk rock (that) is good for you” .
To top that up, the venues were legendary (Apolo in Barcelona and Joy Eslava in Madrid), and there was plenty of Volcom surprises for everyone including a year of Volcom Jeans supply to two lucky winners.
No needs to say, good times were had by all. Don’t miss next one when those shows hit your town!
Check some photos from Sr Santos below…
Burger Invasion backstage rack
Burger Invasion band
Burger Joy
Cotillon - Apolo
Cotillon
Denim GMJ x Volcom
Denims
Dwarves
Dwarves
The garden
The garden
The Garden - Joy, Madrid
The garden - Madrid, Joy
Goodies - Apolo
Merch - Apolo
The Molochs - Apolo 2
The Molochs - Apolo 2
Roberto Aleman and Guillaume
Burger Invasion Set up
Burger Invasion Totes bag
Wand - Apolo 2
Wand - Apolo
Wand - Madrid
Wand - Madrid

THIS IS THE FORGOTTEN STORY OF ATTUNGA
Attunga - The Aboriginals used the term to define "a high place." And that was the exact place our group was searching for. Or was it a feeling? To navigate the globe, to harness the spirit of a single moment in time created by a collective of individuals, to find a higher place for an elevated state of being – Attunga.
Without hesitation, we jumped into action and began our journey. A daily diary was written. Each day’s adventure noted, madness scribed. The crew documents in an attempt to record what would be known to Attunga as the most influential group to ever occupy its presence. Then, the diary was lost. Mishandled. Hours of line-by-line transcribing of pure gold vanished as if nothing ever happened. Left in the fresh Australian Alps. A page ripped out of a larger story only to be known to a select few. It was said to contain their unapologetic quest for a higher place. This was the chapter of Attunga.
Not since Attunga's early days had a group of 15 men troubled the grounds with musical instruments and a thirst of 100% Victorian hops and malt which goes by the name of Furphy. This beer, the Volcom Snow Family longed-for. It was their weakness, but it didn’t hold them back. Not at all. It only fueled their true passion for living. Snowboarding. Music. Skating. There were no downtimes. Those outwardly disturbed neighbors, rattled from their foreign beds and thundered by group chants with overwrought behavior, only marveled the next day as the team soared high above their heads. Finding side-hits where previously thought impossible, approaching jumps at unprecedented speeds, riding down the mountain together all in a consistent, but unique way. They were on the search for a higher place. A place which previously occupied a state of mind unbeknownst to their fellow man. This place was the pinnacle of their search. And it was mesmerizing.
This was the long-forgotten story of Attunga, only briefly told. A temporary remembrance of what once was. An anecdote. It seems archaic to draw a timeline from memory and not tangible proof. But, then again, that’s the story of Attunga. Did it really happen? We must digress. Continue on. The story is out there. In a higher place that's joined with its unparalleled state of mind. Lost in a diary that doesn’t want to be found. Buried beneath, somewhere deep in Falls Creek.
Photos by Vernon Deck + E-Stone:

Volcom womens took over the Volcom Cham Shack beginning of February, in Chamonix, France.
The ladies that joined us were:
Camille, Fanny, Lili, Kicki, Alba, Silvia, Jess, and @maudlecar
Some of the coolest girls from Paris, Berlin, Barcelona and London together with our brand ambassador Maud Le car, flew to the Volcom Chamonix House in Chamonix to be part of a unique experience.
Jess Gavigan, aka Juice describes her journey !
‘A couple of weeks ago I headed out to Chamonix for a snow adventure with Volcom. I left Bali to do the trip and then return to Asia straight after because the trip sounded so amazing and I really wanted to work with Volcom!
The long journey was made up for it by the first night accommodation. COZY SETTINGS LEVEL 100. The hotel was amazing, and I had the most amazing room with a view, and was greeted with a bed full of amazing gifts from Volcom, clarins and electric. GASSEDDDD.
That was a great start to the whole trip, but I won't go into it loads cos there's too many sick parts...
We went to the Volcom store to pick out some stuff, which was totally unexpected - if the gifts on the bed weren't enough we got free reign inside the store (like kids in a candy shop).
We got to try snow shoeing, which was a new experience for me! And I loved it. It was sick doing a mini trek up the mountain, perfect weather conditions and the icing on the cake was the house we went to for dinner. It was unreal. Everything hand made, hand cooked. The food was WOWOW, and we each got given a quartz crystal which was all found on the mountains by the husband. It was such a special night and I've been keeping the crystal in my pocket everyday (travelling through Asia)
The bit I was most excited about was snowboarding in our new gear. I was stoked to ride with lucie, vernon, olivier, Maude Alba and Silvia. We got to go and ride around and take some sick shots. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN.
I loved everyone we all got on so well. And then we did a couple all girl runs
GIRL POWER haha
The clarins spa was next level. Getting pampered was heavenly and the outdoor swimming pool/jacuzzi was a really nice end to the day.
The whole trip was sick. The group got on so well and everyone was like a big family at the end. I was sad to leave. It was an amazing and magical few days in the mountains. My only regret is that it didn't last longer!!
I met so many cool people and its an experience I won't forget, and even better I've got sick volcom snow and lifestyle apparel for lifeeeee. ‘
THE WHOLE TRIP WAS JUST WOW. (Haha inside group joke)
Big love to emilie, Lucie and the volcom gang.
Credit photos : Vernon Deck video : Olivier Gittler
Special thanks to Electric, Clarins,Vernon deck and Olivier Gittler
Thank you @fannymaurer and @clarinsfr for the gifts and make up session, here on the beautiful @kickiyangz
#caughtupinagoodthing stunning @albapaulfe in our newest simply seamless bodysuit

Last Sunday on the first night of ISPO, Attunga was shown to the general public for the first time. We teamed up with longtime friends, media partner, and snowboard magazine extraordinary - Pleasure, because when it comes to throwing parties in Munich, nobody does it better.
By the times doors opened at the P1 club, the line to get in was over a hundred meters long. Come 11 o’clock, Terje Haakonsen introduced the movie to the overenthusiastic spastic snowboard crowd. At 12:30, the boy wonder, aka the not so petit prince with his magic fingers and slightly less magic amplifier came on stage and introduced his band LEOPARD Ale. Within seconds, yours truly was violently pushed into the back corners of the venue by a lynch mob of, hmmm… let’s just call them female fans (we do live in #metoo times after all). It was close to Beatles mania all over again. After LEOPARD Ale’s historical gig, Nasty Mondays took over, and it was around this time our beloved Seth Huot (Attunga movie director) was kicked out for letting off too much steam. Not an easy task to accomplish, kudos Seth. The rest is as they say, staying on tour. We’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Thank you to everyone that came out, Chris Heubl and Pleasure Magazine, Martin Herrmann for photos, and Jeff and Seth for coming all the way from the US.
Moments before detonation Terje and Nicolas Gregor Friday and Olivier Gittler Tim Allenet and Olivier Gittler The band, some Volcom people and a guy who was pushed all the way to the back Seth Huot and Vernon Deck Nasty Mondays